This conference is one of a series that occur at two-year intervals; this series of conferences, because of the week-long format and small size, is well known for the cross-fertilization of ideas and the spawning of fruitful collaborations. Although the field of ion channel research has traditionally focussed On the excitable membranes of muscle and nerve, in recent years ion channels have become recognized as cellular transducers and effectors in many tissues and have become associated with a very broad range of physiological and disease processes. The goal of the proposed conference is to bring together and disseminate recent advances in the understanding of ion channel function in epithelial, cardiac, neuronal and other tissues, while focussing particularly on new results from structural and functional studies of ion channel proteins.